Carl Walter “Walt” Koch

Carl Walter “Walt” Koch, 95, died on April 2. Walt was born on May 6, 1920, in Ritzville, to Johann Friedrich “Fred” Koch and Sussanna “Susan” Yukert Koch.

Walt met his future wife, who lived in Spokane, through a close buddy and was immediately smitten. After a short courtship he married Lenora M. Bishop on June 15, 1941.

Walt was employed for two years as an auto mechanic for the Oldsmobile dealership in Ritzville and also worked for the Ritzville Public School as a bus driver and mechanic from 1939 until he entered the Army in 1944 during World War II.

As one of Patton’s men, on the route o...